1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive display system in which a computer system is adapted to receive inputs from an interactive display surface and a mouse, and to generate output graphic signals for display on the interactive display surface and a further display associated with a computer system, the graphic output signals being generated to the respective displays through respective display drivers, the interactive display surface and the further display forming a contiguous desktop area for the computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical example of an interactive display system is an electronic whiteboard system. An electronic whiteboard system typically is adapted to sense the position of a pointing device or pointer relative to a work surface (the display surface) of the whiteboard, the work surface being an interactive surface. When an image is displayed on the work surface of the whiteboard, and its position calibrated, the pointer can be used in the same way as a computer mouse to manipulate objects on the display by moving a pointer over the surface of the whiteboard.
A typical application of an interactive whiteboard system is in a teaching environment. The use of interactive whiteboard systems improve teaching productivity and also improve student comprehension. Such whiteboards also allow use to be made of good quality digital teaching materials, and allow data to be manipulated and presented using audio visual technologies.
A typical construction of an electronic whiteboard system comprises an interactive display forming the electronic whiteboard, a projector for projecting images onto the display, and a computer system in communication with the electronic whiteboard for generating the images for projection, running software applications associated with such images, and for processing data received from the display associated with pointer activity, such as the location of the pointer on the display surface. In this way the computer system can control the generation of images to take into account the detected movement of the pointer on the interactive surface.
The computer system is also typically provided with a dedicated display associated with the computer system itself. This display may, for example, be the display of a desktop computer, or the display of a laptop computer. In prior art interactive whiteboard systems, the image is displayed onto the interactive display surface of the interactive whiteboard while also displayed on the further display associated with the computer system itself.
In more recent computer systems, there is provided graphics hardware comprising multiple graphics outputs for a single computer. With a computer system with two graphics outputs, this allows for the projector associated with the interactive display system to be connected to receive graphics data from one graphics output of the computer system, and the further display associated with the computer system to be connected to receive graphics data from the other graphics output of the computer system. In such an arrangement, as one skilled in the art will understand, the interactive display surface and the display of the computer system form a contiguous desktop area for a user of the computer system. Different images may be displayed on each of the displays, but the control of such images is controlled by a single computer. The mouse may be moved across both display areas.
The use of such a computer system with dual output graphics hardware allows for a user of the computer system having control of the mouse to operate software applications which are displayed on the monitor of the computer system, whilst one or more users may work at the surface of the interactive whiteboard, with one or more pointing devices, to control software applications displayed on the interactive display surface. Such an operation of an interactive display system would be particularly advantageous in education environments, where a teacher may run applications on the display of the computer system, for example preparing lessons or marking students' work, while the students perform educational tasks using applications running on the interactive display surface at the interactive display.
However a problem arises insofar as the users of the pointing devices at the interactive surface generate mouse data as a result of the inputs at the interactive display surface, which interfere with the interaction of the user of the computer system using the mouse to control applications running on the computer monitor. This inhibits the usefulness of running applications on the computer system using the display of the computer system whilst other individuals are running applications on the interactive whiteboard.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement to allow the simultaneous operation of applications at the interactive display surface and on a separate further display, under the control of a single computer system, such that a user using the mouse may control an application displayed on the display of the computer system, whilst a user using a pointing device controls an application which is displayed on the interactive surface.